I was deeply annoyed, if not outraged, at how ridiculous chain messages and bulletins posted on bulletin boards have morphed into. And this includes text messages too.
They always have catchy titles - those that evoke your curiosity, sufficient to make you drag your mouse and click on them. Then when your page loads, you'll be presented either this long touching story of so and so, or some life lessons you think you should learn. Pretty educational and entertaining, aren't they?
Wait till you scroll to the bottom of the page.
It says "Foward this to such and such number of people and your wish will come true" OR "Foward this to such and such number or people and your love will ask you out!" Of course, save the best for the last, and it says "If you break this chain, you'll receive however long of bad luck" and what have they.
They prey on curiosity. They prey on people's unsuspecting eyes and their innocence. Once you open, you regret instantly. But what can you do? They have already explicitly told you that "you must pass this on or the ghost of so and so will come after you". Scared little mice we have become, so we pass them on to free ourselves from what that message prophecized.
At first, out of selfishness I passed them on, therefore 'harming' more people whom I called friends. Then more came and flooded my mailbox - all from those whom I call 'friends' as well. Eventually, I got so used to their gloomy prophecy of me had I chosen to break the chain, that I really did break it. Since that day, I never hit the 'forward' button, instead 'delete' button once I reached the bottom of the page.
But what really annoyed me is this. Friendster bulletin board is no longer for bulletins. It's flooded with such messages that require you to repost so that you won't face the misfortune they mentioned. So people go reposting them, and they occupy the entire bulletin board. Great, no room for constructive bulletins.
One particularly outrageous I've opened says "you must repost this or your dad will die." Curiosity indeed have the power to kill a cat. I say, if people really go dying mysteriously just because people choose to defy that message, then psycho murderers out there like that Russian guy wouldn't need to waste time postulating a formula for executing his victims. All he need to do is be a comp-literate, and let the net do the work.
So I did not repost, believe it or not. Not because I'm not filial. I love my daddy VERy, very much, but I see myself as an idiot if I really believe in what that rubbish of a message said.
I know many will say "No one forced you to open it what. You opened it willingly. So don't go complain." True, but what have we turned mailboxes and bulletin boards to?
Bins with crap messages, they are.
So this is a warning, for you who read this. To make sure you are not cursed by me, never direct these kind of crap to me. And yep, I will never take any look at bulletin boards anymore.
On a lighter note, I got this email from Amelia. Part of it wrote:
"Amateurs built the ark
Professionals built the Titanic."
Interesting.
